A New Light
by Midnight9
Summary: Sorry folks, it's over.
1. In the wrong hands

Disclaimer: I do not own the Forbidden Game or Night World books or the characters in them. I do own Orchid, though. So there. Also, this story does not in any way establish a belief in vampires/witches, etc. or a justification of drinking blood in myself. It is simply a fantasy situation devised for entertainment.  
  
  
  
  
One of the first things Julian realized after he was reborn was that Jenny Thorton was dead. It wasn't until later that he found out she'd been killed in a car crash just three days after her nineteenth birthday. When he first woke up from his long sleep all he knew was that he felt a great emptiness in his heart - in the part that had belonged to Jenny. He instantly tried to locate her mind, to use his powers to find her like he had in the past. It was hopeless. He knew she was gone.  
  
He figured that was probably the main reason the other Shadow Men had carved his name back onto the runestave of life. So that they could see him suffer without Jenny. However, if they were gaining entertainment from his despair, they were doing it from afar. He had seen very little of his fellow Shadow Men since his rebirth. Perhaps they had captured some new soul - found a new toy to play with, and were too busy with it to make his torture complete. He didn't really care what they were doing. He spent his time alone, remembering Jenny. He had given up his existence for her. What was a life without Jenny?  
  
You're being stupid, he told himself one day as he drifted through the cold shadows of his world. You're a powerful Shadow Man and you're wasting your existence crying over Jenny. She's gone and there's nothing you can do to bring her back. But he had loved Jenny so much. She had changed him. She had melted away some of the coldness in his heart. In the end, he had been willing to change everything to make her happy. He wished he were still dead.  
  
He was considering trying to cut his own name back out of the runestave when suddenly he felt something. He wasn't sure what it was. Jenny.... It couldn't be. Jenny was dead. But it felt like her....or maybe just like a part of her. There it was again. Something was tugging at him. Calling to him....  
  
He closed his eyes and let his mind sweep the worlds, searching for the source of the call. Millions of scenes from every different realm swept past his eyes. He paid them no heed. What could it be? He had to find it. And then, everything went still. A single picture danced in his mind. A girl, walking along a narrow, curving road. Something about her made Julian draw in his breath. She was very slender and pale, with short, reddish black hair. She wore grungy clothes and black lipstick. A raggedy backpack was slung over her shoulder.  
  
She was walking very slowly, staring at the ground. It's a girl. So what? Julian thought in frustration. But then the girl stopped walking. She bent down on one knee and picked something up off of the ground. She held it up and Julian gasped. It was a small, golden band. There was absoloutley no way.... She squinted at the inside of the ring, as though there was something written there. Slowly she mouthed five words that send Julian's mind into a chaotic confusion. I am my only master.  
  
She stared at the ring for a few more seconds and then slid it onto her middle finger and continued to walk up the road. 


	2. Orchid Lynx

Orchid Lynx pushed her way through the crowded halls of Lafelle High School, wondering if there was any possible way she could get to her humanities class on time. A massive, immovable wall of people lined Hallway 4, packing it from one side to the other. It was a perfectly engineered traffic jam. The bell was going to ring at any minute.   
Several people cried out vehemently as a pair of hoodlums came dashing up the hall at top speed, ruthlessly pushing people in every direction. Some freshman got slammed headfirst into a locker and started crying. "Yo, sorry dawg!" one of them shouted as they shoved past Orchid. Had it not been for her lightning quick reflexes, she would have dropped the stack of books she was carrying.  
'Insects.' she growled mentally. She couldn't wait until she got out of high school. Then she wouldn't have to have so much contact with idiotic humans. She could move somewhere where the Night People were in command - where she could hit someone upside the head when she got angry at them and not really get in trouble for it.  
"Ding! Ding! Ding!" Well, there was the bell. It looked like she would be sitting in tardy hall again. Not that it mattered much. School was wretched no matter what class you were in. Maybe she could get away with taking a nap instead of writing an essay.  
"Tardy hall!" Shouted Mr. Sid as those left in the hallway slowly made their way down to the auditorium. Mr. Sid was one of those beings that everyone in the school, human or not, utterly loathed. He wasn't exactly a teacher. He was more of what you would call an administrator. Somebody who got paid solely for standing in the halls and yelling at kids to go to class and tuck in their shirts.  
Orchid was about halfway down stairway 2 when she decided to cut class completely. School was almost out anyway. What did she have to lose? None of her people were going to care. She inconspicuously slipped out a back door and made her way into the courtyard that the Seniors normally ate lunch in. It would be pointless to go off of school grounds. She didn't have a car and there was no place in the area worth walking to. She definitely didn't want to go back to her apartment. Her neighbor's infant triplets always started screaming around this time of day.  
So Orchid sat down at one of the crumbling stone tables and took out her sketch pad. She felt kind of stupid, sitting in the courtyard doing sketches. If she was going to cut, she could at least have the integrity to do it the right way. But then who really cared what other people might think if they saw her? She was already completely different from them. She certainly acted different. The Night World had it's own set of rules. It's own lifestyle.   
She even looked different from most people. She was paler. And she was beautiful. It was a given that if you were born into the lamia you would be beautiful. Her hair was naturally a deep, ebony black, though she had given in to one of the human habits and put cherry highlights in it. Her eyes were a very warm brown. So warm that they had a reddish tint to them. That reddish tint turned to a deep scarlet when she was angry or about to feed.  
It amused Orchid that so many guys thought she was a freak and were completely smitten with her at the same time. Not that she would ever give any of them a second glance. Humans annoyed her so. In fact, just about everybody annoyed her. She wished she could do like she'd heard other people talking about - just randomly pack up and go on a vacation in Africa or something like that. Go somewhere where she could be blissfully alone.  
As she dug in her backpack for a charcoal pencil, her eyes fell upon the thin golden band she had found that morning. For some reason her heart gave a funny little jitter at the sight of it. It was probably somebody's wedding ring, she realized. It wasn't hers. But then, what else was she supposed to do with it? She'd found it in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't like there was a lost and found she could take it to. And why was she even wearing it anyway? It wasn't her style at all. Maybe it was because of the words engraved inside of the band. I am my only master.... somehow she seemed to be able to relate to those words in a million different ways at once....  
If Orchid hadn't had such refined senses, she would have been quite startled, for the person coming up behind her made no sound at all. However, Orchid had ways of sensing things that didn't involve the ordinary five human senses. So instead of screaming and jumping about a foot off the ground as someone's fingers brushed her shoulder, she quickly turned around to stare at the hottest guy she'd ever seen. She didn't bother closing her jaw after it dropped.  
"Hello," the boy said, in a voice that sounded an awful lot like rushing water. "Mind if I sit down?" 


	3. Under Currents

Orchid stared openly at the stranger in front of her without answering. She had never, never seen anything like him. She had seen plenty of cute vampires, and some nice looking humans as well, but they were alley bums compared to this guy. His hair was stark white. Not the bleached color that so many of the guys were sporting those days. White. White as snow. He had an angular face and some very nice muscles, Orchid noticed. And then she happened to glance into his eyes.  
She was almost knocked backwards. His eyes....they were....they were blue. But not just blue. They were such an intense blue that she couldn't think of any time she'd seen such a color before. It was quite common for vampires to have unnatural eye coloring. She'd seen fellow lamia with purple, yellow, silver, red....all kinds of exotic irises. But never this. It was so unique that Orchid thought maybe it shouldn't even be called blue. Maybe it should have a separate color all to itself.  
And there was something else. Something past his arresting appearence. He wasn't a Night Person. She could sense that immediatley. But something within him radiated power. A power that seemed to exist outside of the Night World.  
"Can I sit down?" he asked again. His voice sent tremors through Orchid's spine.  
"What? Oh - oh, uhm, sure, I guess." She forced her mouth closed.  
The guy sat down on the bench across from her. He was wearing all black, Orchid realized as she got over the shock of his body itself. Black jeans and a black muscle T-shirt that couldn't have fit him more perfectly. 'Oh, stop it!' Orchid could have smacked herself. She wasn't the type to drool over guys, and she was no doubt making a complete fool of herself at the moment.  
"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" he asked, a sly look playing into his amazing blue eyes.  
"Yes. But I'm not." She said matter-of-factly, regaining her wits. "I cut."  
"Shame on you. You should value your education more."  
"Who are you? Do you even go here?" Orchid forced some acidity into her voice.   
A strange smile crept across his mouth. "No, I don't go here."  
"Uhm, then....why are you here?" She raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Because I'm not anywhere else."  
'Oh, very witty. Very clever that one was.' "Yeah, well, your speech moved me to go to class after all. Goodbye." Orchid got up from the bench. As cute as he was, there was something about this guy that was starting to make her nervous. Something wasn't right.  
"Can I see your ring?"  
"No," she snapped, intending to walk into the cafeteria but finding herself sitting back down.  
"Are you sure?"  
His words had power. That was one thing Orchid realized at that moment. What sounded like a question was really a mental command. An irresistable suggestion. Had she not had the same ability to manipulate weaker minds she may have fallen prey to his tricks.  
"It's just a band," she growled, twisting it around her finger.  
"Where did you get it?"  
"None of your business."  
"It's very pretty."  
"If I let you see it, will you go away?"  
"Am I really even here?"  
Orchid sighed. Anything to get away from him quicker. With a tug she pulled the band off of her finger and dropped it into his outstretched hand.  
He got up very quickly, closing his fingers around the ring. "Thank you, Orchid," he said, turning away from her.  
"Hey, wait a minute!" she shouted. "What, do you think you can just steal junk from me?" He kept walking as if he hadn't heard her. Just who did this guy think he was? Orchid could feel the anger explode into her mind. Her eyes burned blood red. With a feral growl she lept up from the bench and over the table. She tackled him with full force, knocking him to the ground.  
She ignored the surprised words he uttered and pried the ring out of his hand. "Let me tell you something you jerk," she spat at him as he pulled himself off of the ground, rubbing his head. "I know there's something up with you. And you can scare all the little kids and steal all the lunch money you want, but if you ever dare try to mess with me again, I'll break your face!"   
Orchid slid the ring back onto her finger and marched into the cafeteria, leaving a very stunned Shadow Man behind her. 


	4. Who Hates the Other More?

Orchid was slouching so far down in her desk in calculus that her chin just reached over the edge of the desk. She was sure that at any moment the boredom would make its death blow and she would fall dead to the floor. Despite the master's degree that she had neatly framed and hung in the classroom, Mrs. York just couldn't teach. At least not in a way that Orchid could understand.  
Mrs. York was saying something about tangents when Orchid drifted off completely. Her mind wandered blankly for a moment and then came to rest on....uhg, no! Not him. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get the white-haired, blue-eyed image out of her head. He made her so angry!  
She wasn't even sure what it was about him that set her hair on end. Sure he was a punk, but Orchid had known many punks. He was powerful, but she had also known many other powerful beings in her lifetime. There was just something, something in his cerulean eyes that gave her a very cold feeling. You're afraid of him....a small voice in the back of her head whispered.  
"I am not."  
What did it matter anyway? She wasn't likely to see him again, unless he was too stupid to take her threat seriously. Very few people messed with Orchid Lynx once they saw her angry.   
One of the things that bothered her most was that he had known her name. How had he done that? She was sure she'd never met him before. Perhaps he was able to read minds. She supposed she could have looked into his mind if she'd wanted to, but as strange as he was on the outside she didn't really want to see inside.  
She stared down at the ring on her finger again. Perhaps she shouldn't have picked it up. It seemed to bring nothing but trouble. But then, seeing the way that weirdo had looked at it made her all the more determined to keep wearing it. There was still a tinge of red in her eyes as Mrs. York snapped her out of her reverie by calling on her to answer number four.  
  
  
Julian stared blankly into the twisting shadows, which all seemed to be forming themselves into a girl with reddish black hair and a very sharp tongue. Since their last encounter, he'd had about a million different thoughts about her- the majority of them including the urge to teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget. How dare she treat him like that? He supposed her ignorance of his true identity made up for some things, but still. She was crazy, jumping over tables and leaping onto people! She could have cracked his head open if he wasn't immune to such types of injuries.  
And something that troubled him even more was how she had managed to get him to the ground in the first place. He had amazing strength- lightning quick reflexes. He should have been able to throw her across the courtyard before she could even touch him. Yet he had found his face hurtling towards the pavement with no way to stop himself. And not only that, but she had managed to hold him down and pry his ring- Jenny's ring out of his hand and threaten him before he could fully recover his senses.  
That ring was all that he had left of Jenny. It wasn't that stupid girl's and he couldn't let her blaspheme Jenny's light by wearing it. At the moment, as trivial as it may have been in reality, that ring was the world to Julian. His sole purpose was to get it back- to restore Jenny's memory.  
The question was how he was going to do it. The simple, direct approach had failed so far. Could it be possible that for the first time in his life he was just having a bad day? Was he still weak from being reborn, or had his grief dulled his abilities? Maybe he should just skip the niceties and whack her over the head. He could sneak up on her from anywhere. He could travel through shadows, after all. Or perhaps he should go back to his old ways and toy with her mind until she begged him to take the ring back. He would enjoy that. Something small in the back of his mind told him that her mind probably didn't work like most people's, but whatever the case he was going to get that ring back....and make that mysterious girl pay for her insolence. 


	5. Simple Games

The rest of Orchid's week was completely devoid of white-haired, blue-eyed weirdoes, which made her very happy. In fact, she was feeling so good by the weekend that she worked up the stamina to go to the mall and look for a new pair of boots. She was even in a pleasant enough mood to invite Topaz, one of her few friends, to come along. Or perhaps she only invited her because she had become somewhat paranoid of being anywhere by herself these days.  
  
Topaz was a fellow member of the Black Geranium with Orchid. It was a Night World club founded specifically for people their age. Topaz was always saying that Orchid should have joined the Black Orchid instead, which Orchid didn't find humorous at all. She shared Orchid's dark hair, though hers was much longer, and her eyes were the exact golden color of the gem she was named for.  
  
"Are you sure he's not another one of us? A new family moved in around here a few days ago. They all seem like punks." Topaz stopped to look at a red sweater in a store window.  
  
"I don't think so," muttered Orchid. "I can usually sense our kind, and I couldn't find a trace in him."  
  
"Maybe he was shielding his mind."  
  
"No. He was giving off too much power to be shielding much of anything." *Why am I even talking about him?* Orchid thought bitterly. It seemed that the longer she went without seeing him, the more she thought of him. Part of her was expecting him to come leaping out at her at any minute. Though she knew it was highly unlikely that she would ever see him again in her life, she just had this premonition....the feeling that something was going to happen soon.  
  
"How completely weird. I wish hot, powerful guys came up to me."  
  
Orchid snorted. "You can have him."  
  
Both girls approached Hot Topic and early went inside.  
  
"Hey, didn't you say the guy had white hair?"  
  
"Yeah." Orchid was trying on a spiked collar.  
  
"That guy at the desk looks a lot like that."  
  
The collar flew off as Orchid whipped her head around to glare at the guy behind the counter. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure the people in the next store could hear it. White hair. Piercing blue eyes. *It can't be....it just can't be....* He was wearing all black again- this time a tank top, some sort of fishnet thing over the top and baggy black jeans. He hadn't looked at her yet.  
  
"Come on!" she hissed, dragging Topaz from the store.  
  
"Hey!" Topaz shouted. "I wanted to buy something!"  
  
"Later! Hurry up!" Orchid didn't let go of Topaz's wrist until they were completely outside of Hot Topic.  
  
"Wow, your guy works at Hot Topic. That is so awesome!" Topaz raved. "Hector works at McDonalds."  
  
"He doesn't work there!" Orchid seethed. "I go in there all the time and I've never seen him!"  
  
"Maybe he just started working there."  
  
"He didn't! You don't understand, he's not *normal.* He's after me!"  
  
Topaz's golden eyes were full of concern.  
  
Orchid sighed in frustration. "Oh, just forget it, okay? Forget I ever said anything about him. Come on, let's just go." Orchid's good mood had been completely obliterated. She suddenly had no desire to be around the public or Topaz.  
  
"But we haven't even covered half of the mall!"  
  
"Stay here by yourself, then! I'm going home!" Orchid turned around and walked away, not waiting for Topaz.  
  
"Hey, you came here in *my* car!" Topaz yelled after her.  
  
"I'll walk!" Orchid shouted back, ignoring the strange looks she was getting.  
  
"You're taking this way too far, you know!" Topaz panted as she caught up with her.  
  
"Just go away Topaz! I want to be alone."  
  
There was a long pause. "Fine!" Topaz finally growled. "That's just fine! You can walk all the way back home, and I hope you fall in a ditch on the way!" With that, she turned around and stomped away, leaving Orchid very angry- and feeling very alone.  
  
*It's not like I need a stupid car anyway,* she mentally grumbled as she headed for the mall exit. *I was built for running. I could run all twenty miles in ten minutes if I wanted to.* As she pushed open the main doors to leave, she glanced over at the food court just long enough to see a white-haired, blue-eyed weirdo at one of the small tables, smiling at her in a way that sent chills down her spine. 


	6. Mucho Anger

Hi, yall. Sorry about the wait. I had to decide what I wanted to happen next.  
I would like to give a special thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Kate, and ask that she not reveal hints of what's going to happen in upcoming chapters.  
  
Why did it have to be so hot? Orchid had already covered half of the way home, and it wasn't even three in the afternoon. Of course, she didn't get cramps or sore feet when she walked long distances. The only thing bothering her was the way the sun was burning down mercilessly on her sensitive skin. She had also left her sunglasses in Topaz's car, so she was forced to stare at her feet most of the time, to block out the painful glare.  
  
*Why am I doing this?* She kicked a rock off the side of the road. *Why am I even out here all by myself when I know for sure that he's stalking me now?* Why hadn't she just stayed in bed that morning? Why hadn't she gone to tardy hall that Monday instead of cutting and meeting *him*? And, now that she thought about it, why was she running from him like a scared bunny rabbit? What did he have on her? She had already gotten him down once, and she had never lost a fight.  
  
She came to an empty back lot, shielded on two sides by tall brick walls. She took advantage of the shade that the walls provided and stopped to rest. "Come on!" she said out loud, suddenly feeling ferocious. "Come and get me!"  
  
She had not expected her blue-eyed friend to materialize out of the shadows at her words, but somehow she wasn't surprised when he did. She quickly slid into a fighting stance. "What do you want this time?" she growled at him.  
  
"Haven't I made that obvious by now?"  
  
"If you're still hooked on my ring, you're not getting it."  
  
"Just where *did* you get that ring, Orchid?"  
  
"Just how *do* you know my name....Julian?"   
  
So, his name was Julian. It was hard prying even his name out of his mind, but she had managed it. That was such a pretty name, Orchid thought. For the briefest moment she was once again completely distracted by how hot he was. His white hair practically glowed in the bright sunlight. His eyes were sparkling blue sapphires. He was still wearing the outfit from Hot Topic. She had always thought those fishnet shirts looked cool, but on him it looked downright sexy.  
  
She shook her head. The fact that he was cute didn't lessen her urge to strangle him. At the moment Julian was only staring at her. *Didn't know I could read your mind, did you, Julian? Are you starting to realize what you're really up against?*  
  
There was silence for another few seconds, and then Julian started to laugh. "I've known few beings who could use telepathy so well. You're strong, too. And fast. Most people wouldn't be able to get within a foot of me, much less push me over. You're fairly powerful for a human. However, I am still stronger than you, Orchid. I am faster, I am smarter and you cannot win against me. I suggest that you save yourself a lot of trouble and cooperate while I'm still in a good mood."  
  
Orchid could feel her mouth drop open. Had he really just said all of that to *her*? In one swift motion she grabbed him by the neck and lifted him effortlessly into the air. "Don't ever call me human!" She snarled, throwing him into the nearby wall. This time she could see anger flashing in his eyes as he got to his feet.  
  
"You chose the wrong person to mess with, Orchid." He walked towards her purposefully. She didn't want to be remotely close to him. She reached out to push him away but he caught her wrist before she could touch him. She tried to yank it free but he suddenly had a grip like iron. "I was weak the last time we talked. That's why you were able to attack me. So I waited a few days. And now I've got all my power back. I'm starting to wonder if you *are* human, but whatever you are you stand no chance against me." He gave her that same, terrifying wolfish smile she had seen in the mall. Orchid watched in shock as he easily bent back her arm. She couldn't break his grip. She had never met anyone half as strong as he was. Slowly, he forced her to her knees. What was this being who had more strength than a vampire?  
  
"Do you give up yet, Orchid?" he asked softly, smiling at the fear he saw in her eyes.  
  
Orchid stared into his endless blue eyes. She really was out of her league. Any sensible person *would* give up. But Orchid had never been known to be sensible. In one swift motion she grabbed his shirt with her free hand and yanked him forward. He shouted as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground with her. Orchid was crushed under his weight, but he lost his grip on her arm and she quickly shoved him off of her. Then, before he could realize what had happened, she grabbed his shoulders and sank her fangs deep into his neck. 


	7. Revelations

CHAPTER 7  
  
  
Orchid hadn't bitten Julian because she was hungry. This time it was simply as a mode of self defense- a way to incapacitate him before he decided to hurt her. However, the blood bond that she shared with her victims was, as always, inevitable. The giddiness of feeding overtook her as she tasted his blood. Her eyes turned their brightest shade of red. She could feel his mind growing closer and closer until, in one white hot instant, they collided. Orchid gasped in awe and terror as, for the first time, she stood completely inside of Julian's mind.  
Almost as soon as the connection was made Orchid was pulling away. Something dark and smothering was creeping into her lungs- her heart. Something that she had not truly felt for a very long time. Fear. She quickly jerked her fangs from his neck and stumbled backwards.  
"What- what *are* you?" she gasped, struggling to her feet only to fall to her knees again. She felt as though someone had injected liquid fire into all of her veins. Her skin tingled and her head spun. Taking even a small amount of his blood had given Orchid a part of his power, and for her even a small part of that power was almost unbearable. Suddenly she felt as though she could command the elements and control the shadows. Her already keen senses had been heightened to a level that she found painful. Her telepathic abilities had been magnified so far that she found she couldn't control them. She seemed to be hearing a million minds at once. Instead of making her stronger the power paralyzed her, weakened her reason. It ran rampant through her body with its own free will, seemingly bent on destroying her.   
Julian only stared at Orchid in shock. He had heard the legends of vampires but had never known that they actually existed. The two small wounds still burned on his neck, and for just a moment he had felt himself enter into another person in a way he had never thought possible. At the moment Orchid was curled in a ball on the ground, seemingly in pain.  
"Are....um, are you okay?"  
"Too much," Orchid muttered through gritted teeth. "Too much."  
"Too much what?"  
"Too much power. Wasn't ready."  
Julian couldn't help but smile. So, she had absorbed some of his power, had she? Obviously she couldn't handle it, even if she was a fellow immortal. Only a fellow Shadow Man could wield the immense power they embodied. It served her right, biting him like that. He didn't feel any weaker. His power was virtually limitless. Orchid had taken single drop from an ocean, and even that proved too much for her system.  
However, despite her present weakness, she was still a vampire, and that disturbed him. Why hadn't he been able to tell that all the times he'd looked into her mind? He had never sensed any unusual power in her being.  
"We have ways of shielding our identities from people like you." Orchid rasped. Julian realized that she was reading his mind. "So, what are *you*?" she asked again, some of the strength coming back into her voice. "I could tell you had power from the beginning, but I couldn't place it." Despite its initial intensity, Julian's power was quickly draining out of her system. Transferred power never stayed for long unless you killed, and Orchid didn't kill.  
"I'm a Shadow Man." Julian said quietly.  
"You're from another place." Orchid was still piecing his thoughts together. "You're known by many names because people see you as different things. But always powerful, and always something to fear. Sometimes people from our world stumble into your realm, or you take them there. They're never seen again."  
"Basically."  
Slowly Orchid climbed back to her feet. "Here," she said once she was stabilized. "You can have this back now." She held out the ring. Julian stared at her in surprise.  
"Why the sudden change of mind?"  
"Because," Orchid stared at the ground. "I know why you want it so bad now. It was Jenny's."  
It was almost amusing to sense so much surprise coming from such a powerful being. "How much do you know?" His voice was suddenly hoarse.  
"I know you loved her. She was your soulmate. You played games to try to get her to be with you. Eventually you realized she was better off living in her own world, and in the end you died for her. Now you are alive again and she is dead." Orchid paused, wondering if she should dig up her own ghosts. "I know what that's like," she said softly. "To lose a soulmate."  
"What?" Julian was looking at her strangely.  
"I met Joel in a hospital when he was in his worst stage of cancer. As soon as we saw each other we knew. He was the person I was meant for the most in this world, the person I couldn't ever be completely happy without. He was twenty one and I was fourteen but we were in love. I couldn't believe I had found him. I felt like the luckiest person in the world. I didn't realize how sick he was until he died two days later." She snorted. "That's the end of my wonderful love story."  
Julian was still staring at her with a funny look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. His quest to save his last link to Jenny had temporarily suppressed his immense grief from her death. Orchid was still holding out the ring.  
"So take it already. I don't have any right to keep it. You should have just told me why you wanted it to begin with. I didn't know."  
Julian lapsed back into silence. The wheels in his head were turning rapidly. Perhaps he was looking at things all wrong. Once again he forced his grief for Jenny to the back of his mind. A new, roguish look glinted in his eyes. Orchid was starting to look impatient. "Orchid," he said, his voice returning to it's usual arrogant tenor, "how about we play a game for the ring instead?" 


	8. How could there be a FG fan fic with no ...

CHAPTER 8  
  
  
"What do you mean, a *game*?" Orchid stared at Julian suspiciously, startled and somewhat offended by his sudden and dramatic mood swing.  
  
"What do you think? If you win, you can keep the ring and I'll go away and leave you alone forever."  
  
Orchid could feel the frustration explode in her head. She wanted to grab Julian and just shake him! "So let me get this straight...." she muttered, trying to keep her voice calm. "You've been harassing me all this time to get your ring back, and now you're willing to risk it all for a- a *game*?"  
  
"It's not much of a risk," Julian said with a slight smile, his arrogant voice restored. "I usually win."  
  
Orchid snorted. "Oh, please. Jenny beat you three times in a row and she was a mortal."  
  
Something flashed in Julian's eyes. "That was different." Orchid could detect a trace of a growl in his voice.  
  
*So,* thought Orchid, *hit a pressure point, have we?* "But then, that's why you want to do it in the first place, isn't it?" she continued. "You want to prove to yourself that you haven't lost your touch. After all, it would be a pretty sad thing if a great Shadow Man couldn't even win his own games."  
  
Julian was angry now. He wasn't frowning or clenching his fists, but Orchid could see it in his eyes. Something dark and sinister was rippling underneath his cool composure. If she pressed on, Orchid thought he might even hit her. She just dared him to hit her. He would get himself killed with the mood she was in now.  
  
For a few moments Julian only glared at her in silence. "Well," he finally said crisply. "If that's the way you want to be, I won't even give you a chance to keep it." He held out his hand. Orchid stared at him warily. If she had a tragic flaw, it was not being able to turn down a challenge, even if it was a tremendously pointless and stupid challenge. *Put the ring in his hand and leave!* a voice in the back of her head was screaming. Her fingers tightened around the gold band. "What kind of game?" she asked softly. 


	9. Julian Being His Usual Self

CHAPTER 9  
Okay, the plot is starting to pick up now. Hopefully I'll be able to get the chapters out quicker now. Thanks for reading!  
  
  
  
That wolfish smile was back on Julian's face. His eyes sparkled. "Oh, it's a good game."  
  
"Don't cheat with me, Julian. I don't have any friends you can use as bargaining chips."  
  
Julian's eyes widened innocently. "Cheat? I *never* cheat."  
  
Orchid restrained the urge to burst out laughing. " Oh no, you just bend the rules, right?" She snickered.   
  
"So are we agreed?" Julian extended his hand.  
  
"I hope you know I'm only doing this to put you in your place. But yes, we're agreed." She took his hand and shook it. Then she gasped. As soon as she touched his hand she felt as though she was falling into a huge, black hole. *Have I fainted?* she wondered as the sunlight was replaced with darkness.  
  
"Here we are." Julian's rushing water voice spiraled out of the gloom. Orchid shielded her eyes as a bright light burst before her eyes. She blinked several times, then squinted at her surroundings. She found herself in a rather bland-looking place. She felt as though she'd tumbled into a world of nothingness.   
  
There seemed to be no walls or borders anywhere; only a never ending darkness made less dark by the strange, bright light that seemed to rise up from the foggy ground itself. She could make out twisting, shadowy forms in the distance, and then there was Julian again, a light in himself. No shadows covered his face. His white hair shone as though it was immersed in moonlight. His eyes were bluer than ever.  
  
"Where are we?" Orchid wondered what kind of game this could possibly be.   
  
"We are in a plane between your world and mine- between Earth and the Shadow Realm."  
  
"Uh-huh. So....what's the game?"  
  
"This *is* the game." Julian actually sounded excited. "This world is the playing field, and you are the player."  
  
Orchid stared at Julian, wondering if he'd gone off the deep end.  
  
"The rules are simple," he continued, ignoring Orchid's look of confusion. "You have an hour to play. If, at the end of this hour, you are still in this world, then you go home. You keep the ring. You win. However, if you fall into *my* world before the time is up, I win."  
  
"And what exactly do you get if *you* win?" Orchid mentally kicked herself for not asking that before. He might want to hurt her as well as take back the ring.  
  
"I'll tell you when I win."  
  
*[If] you win,* thought Orchid. *Stay in this dump for an hour. That sounds easy enough....but I wonder what could make me end up in [his] world?*  
  
"Oh yes, I almost forgot. Julian waved his hand and Orchid jumped as at least ten dark, menacing figures rose instantly out of the ground. "These are my helpers." Julian's smile was now pure evil. "They will try to force you into my world. They won't kill you, but I can't guarantee their complete good behavior, so I'd be careful if I were you."  
  
Orchid stared at the figures nervously. They were shaped like men, but they were totally devoid of features or expression. They were covered in black from head to foot. Even their faces were hidden in some sort of dark cloth. They stood rigid and unmoving. Some of them held weapons. Orchid swallowed with some difficulty.  
  
"You have five minutes to hide. Then they'll come after you." Orchid had never heard Julian sound this happy.  
  
"You had better play fair, Julian." Orchid didn't need to read his mind to know he had a way of leaving our certain truths when it came to explaining games.  
  
Julian stared at her mischievously. "Oh, I will play fair." There was something in his voice that made Orchid even more nervous. "In fact, I'll start right now. You see, my games have always been designed by humans, played by humans, and it seems to me that you have a great advantage over humans. Doesn't that seem unfair to you?"  
  
Suddenly Orchid felt as though someone had zapped her with electricity. She looked down at her hands in horror. A wide, thin band of wood circled each wrist. Wooden shackles. With wood touching her constantly, especially in this form, she wouldn't be able to use her vampire strength at all. If they stayed on too long, her other abilities would fade away as well. She would practically be....*human*.  
  
Already Orchid could feel her power draining away. She glared at Julian in fury. "You can't just...."  
  
"You have five minutes to hide," he interrupted her. "I'll see you in an hour, one way or another. And with that he disappeared. Melted right into the shadows. For a few moments all Orchid could do was clench her fists and hold back a scream of rage. This wasn't "fair" at all. How was she supposed to fight like a human when she had been raised as a vampire? She had always depended on her powers to survive, not the weak instincts developed by those without such powers. That was the way things were *supposed* to be!  
  
Yet throwing a temper tantrum wasn't going to help much now. If anything, she really needed to get going. Julian's minions were still frozen in place, stiff as boards. Would they really come alive and try to hunt her down? It took all of her will to force herself to run from anyone, but it looked as if this time running was her only chance of winning. Hoping that her speed had not yet been deterred by her restraints, she dashed into the foggy darkness. 


	10. Orchid Thinking a Lot Of Stuff

CHAPTER 10  
  
All right, the game is on. Can Orchid outsmart Julian once and for all or will she lose and possibly risk everything? Thanks for plowing through all of this with me, Kate. :-)  
I adore reviews, so feel free to write them if the urge comes upon you.   
  
  
Curled in her small hiding place, Orchid was growing impatient. Surely it had been five minutes by now. It felt like five hours. Yet she still hadn't seen any sign of the creepy minions. Was it possible that she was so well hidden that they couldn't find her? She seriously doubted it. Perhaps they knew exactly where she was, and they were simply waiting for her to come out and give herself to them.  
  
She felt like a rabbit being hunted by a pack of dogs. Oh, this was such a stupid, stupid game! She was supposed to be the *hunter*, not the prey! Was this the way her victims felt when she swooped down on them? Her muscles were starting to cramp from not moving for so long.  
The creature inside of her was itching for a fight. Even if her power disappeared completely, she would still rather go out fighting than stay curled under the twisted roots of a gnarled tree. Maybe she should climb up into the tree. It wasn't very tall, so she could hide, keep a lookout, and have a place to jump out of for a surprise attack all at once.  
  
But then, the few bent trees and large rocks scattered about the area were the only possible hiding places, so she could actually be in one of the worst spots. The silhouette of the stubby tree could draw them right to her. She was starting to become confused.  
  
*Let them come,* that dark voice inside her head muttered. She was ready to take her chances. She would take them all on at once if she had to. Was she supposed to kill them? Could they even die? There had to be some way to defeat them or the game would be impossible instead of simply unfair.  
  
Orchid stared at the glowing ground. She wondered why the light here was like that. Maybe it was just more proof that everything about Julian- including his games- was backwards. This place was starting to give her a headache. Or maybe it was the shackles that were making her feel under the weather. She had tried and tried to find some way of prying them off, but they wouldn't budge.  
  
Though still rather sharp, Orchid's heightened senses were fading. It was torture, sensing her power seep out of her body, drop by drop. If the minions held out much longer, she could have to deal with them as a human. She wracked her brain for all the human thought patterns she had picked up while feeding. She hated the thought, but she might have to depend on thinking like a human to get through this.  
  
She was halfheartedly considering how to mix her natural instincts and human ability when she heard a soft crunching noise. Orchid nearly jumped out of her skin and instantly slid her hand into her cargo pocked, closing her fingers around the small, silver knife that she always carried with her. She had rarely used it as a weapon; now it could be the best mode of defense she had.  
  
She tried to shift into a less restricted position and jumped again as her shoe scraped over some unseen gravel and made a loud, grating noise. She froze, holding her breath. The cold fog swirled around her. She waited in silence for seconds....minutes.... Slowly, she let out her breath. If the noise had been a minion it must have passed her by. Maybe she could see them from the branches of the tree. Cautiously she began to inch out of her hiding place. She was just about to leave the roots and climb into the tree when the ground beneath her feet disintegrate. Orchid screamed as she began to fall. 


	11. Orchid Thinking Some More Stuff and Gett...

CHAPTER 11  
Well, here it finally is. It's a bit long but I didn't think I could separate this part into 2 chapters. I know Orchid's 'other power' is a bit corny, but it is important later on in the story.  
  
  
Orchid just managed to grab one of the roots before the hole engulfed her. There was no solid ground anywhere around her. This must be how you got into Julian's world. The blackness she dangled in didn't just feel like empty space. It seemed alive and forceful, as though it were trying to drag her down into it. She wondered if the minions had made it appear, or if they just randomly popped up ever so often.  
  
It took a huge amount of effort to pull her feet out of the portal, wrap her legs around the root, and manage to pull herself up through the roots and cling to the trunk of the tree. Even with her super strength it would have been difficult to defy the mysterious gravity of the portal. Now she was exhausted.  
  
There were no minions in sight, which made Orchid nervous. She obviously couldn't hide here anymore. The portal might drag the whole tree down at any minute. Her only option was to make a run for it and hope no one saw her until she gained enough strength to defend herself. She pushed off of the trunk and jumped as far away from the tree as she could, putting as much distance between herself and the portal as possible. She landed clumsily and scraped both her knees. Had her reflexes slowed that much? She was going downhill fast.  
  
She couldn't bring herself to crawl through the fog, but she was running low enough that it did a fair job of hiding her. Every other second she had to fight the urge to stand up and demand that the minions show themselves and fight her. Her pride didn't want to accept that she might no be in good enough condition to exhert herself that much.  
  
After a few minutes she could make out the fuzzy shadow of what looked like a large boulder. She could at least stop there to rest. If she could just keep moving and hiding she might be able to make it through the hour without much trouble. She figured at least twenty minutes must be up already. She was within feet of the boulder when suddenly she felt something forceful and hot slam into her shoulder. The impact of the energy beam threw her a good ten feet through the air before she crashed in a heap in a small patch of what looked like very tall grass.  
  
Orchid thought she just might have a heart attack as she struggled to disentangle herself from the grass. Mere yards in front of her was one of the menacing, featureless minion creatures. It had been bad enough wondering if they were going to suddenly jump in front of her, but seeing one advance on her with a large black gun was absolutely horrible. She had seen tons of scary looking people in her life, but seeing this one alive and plotting her demise for some reason engulfed her with sudden terror.  
  
Struggling to keep her heart rate under control, she delved into her pocket and grabbed the silver knife. She tried to jump to her feet and realized with horror that the grass was curling around her body, entrapping her. The strands swayed and twisted like snakes. They had already gotten a firm hold on her ankles and one was slithering around her waist. The minion stopped for a moment and Orchid guessed he was staring at her, taking a bit of amusement at the situation she was in.   
  
A tendril slipped around her wrist, but not before she had the knife firmly in her hand. She took the knife with her other hand and began hacking at the grass. She managed to chop the binds off of her wrist and waist before the minion decided that she was getting to close to escape and came over to grab her. Orchid furiously sawed at the strands wrapped around her ankles, but there was just no way she could get it all off of her before having to deal with the minion.  
  
The minion stood in front of her and she shivered in its shadow. The grass had both of her wrists now. Slowly, the minion reached out its hand as though it were going to touch her head. Orchid gasped as she felt the same black energy that had been inside the portal radiating from its palm. All it had to do was touch her.... Gritting her teeth, she yanked as hard as she could against the vines on her wrist. Amazingly, she felt the rubbery substance ripping. Any second and the minion would do her in. With a scream she snapped her wrist free and, without thinking, plunged the knife right into the creature's stomach.  
  
For a split second, the minion was completely frozen, one hand just centimeters from her forehead. Then its body burst into a million tiny black fragments, which were instantly carried away on the air. Orchid gaped at the space the creature had been standing in. It was completely gone. She could feel herself shaking all over. Had she actually *killed* it? Physical weapons could actually hurt them?   
  
She was snapped back into reality as the grass began to wind itself around her neck. She quickly hacked away all of the grass and stumbled back into the fog before it could get hold of her again. She was suddenly aware that her shoulder hurt. She pulled up her sleeve and saw a large red mark where the gun's ray had hit her. It seemed to have been more of a stunning kind of weapon than something to kill with. Julian had said that they wouldn't kill her....but how much could they hurt her without killing?  
  
Not knowing what else to do, she started back into the fog, constantly watching her feet in case a portal opened beneath them. It was all so unfair. The portals could appear anywhere in the dimension or the minions could summon them through their touch. They had weapons while she no longer even had her natural powers. And now there were things like killer grass to worry about. She walked for five minutes before seeing another solid object. When she did see it, she gulped. It was a small, dark cave, etched into the side of some rocky mound.  
  
Orchid knew it was a stupid idea going into the cave. The minions could be waiting for her in there. Or if she hid and they found her, she didn't know if there was a back way out. She was about to turn around when she saw something black dart by from the corner of her eye. Then another. With a sigh she started for the cave. What choice did she have?  
  
It was very dark inside. No light rose from the ground here. Normally Orchid was perfectly comfortable with the dark, but now she realized that if one of those things snuck up on her she would never see it, for they were so black they blended right into the shadows. If only she had a match or something....  
  
A thought flittered through her mind. She pushed it away. It was stupid. But it kept coming back, nudging at her consciousness. Somewhere in Orchid's family line there had been a powerful witch. This did not make Orchid a powerful witch, or even a decent one. But she did have a small amount of witch blood in her, which meant that she should be able to decently perform the most basic of spells. She had tried a few times in the past....and failed miserably.  
  
But maybe now that her vampire powers were gone, she would be able to focus on her psychic energies more. Not really knowing where to start, she took off the ring and held it tightly between her fingers. She tried to relax her mind and reach into her inner power supply. She muttered the words of a light spell she'd picked up years back. Nothing seemed to be happening. Concentrating even harder, she riskily left her body in the outside world and journeyed into the depths of her subconscious, until she could clearly see the warm, reddish ball that was her essence.   
  
Freeing herself of any last earthly connections, she soared through the darkness of her mind and plunged into the ball. Orchid's eyes snapped open. Warmth spread through her body and heightened to a burning in her fingertips. She looked down and gasped as the ring began to give off a faint glow, then a dim but steady light. She'd done it! She'd actually done it! She had called light! She felt like jumping up and whooping. Yet despite her excitement, she was now more exhausted than ever. Most witches could do that spell without blinking. It had taken every bit of effort she had to just make something glow.  
  
She cupped the ring in her hands. The light was comforting, and she would hopefully be able to see any attackers, but she didn't want them to see her. She wondered if when she got her powers back she would still be able to do something like this. If she got her powers back. Even if she won, what if Julian decided to leave these stupid shackles on? She supposed she could saw them off or something back in her world, unless they had some weird magic in them, too. Everything here seemed to have some sort of power in itself.  
  
All of her musings quickly vanished as she became aware of a faint rustling sound. The warmth that had filled her body was replaced with the usual cold of apprehension. Orchid thought this had to be the first time in her life that she'd had goosebumps. She shook her head. She needed to completely concentrate on the game. She clenched the ring in her fist, blocking out its light.  
  
Her now depressingly dull ears strained to pick up even the slightest sound. There was silence. Slowly she opened her fist just enough to let a small beam of light poke through her fingers. She shone it around warily, trying to spot the attacker that she knew was there. Even if her powers were gone, the ability to sense someone before you could see them was something ingrained in her genetic pattern. As were the knowledge of how to fight and hunt and feed. Julian couldn't take everything away from her.  
  
Nobody. She growled in frustration. Where *were* they? Then it dawned on her. She had been watching the mouth of the cave, but Julian had never said if the minions could walk through solid objects. And she didn't even know if the back of the cave was solid. She had not gone back far enough to find out. Once again, she mentally kicked herself. There could be a drove of them coming up from the back of the cave at that very moment! She had to get out of there, now!   
  
Quickly she got up from the rock she had been sitting on. All of the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood straight up. She began to run. Then she screamed as she felt a cold hand on the back of her neck. 


	12. Dun dun dun

CHAPTER 12  
Well, here it is. one of the startling climaxes of the story. Hope you enjoy!  
  
Note: This story does not in any way establish a belief in vampires/witches, etc. or a justification of drinking blood in myself. It is simply a fantasy situation devised for entertainment.  
  
  
Orchid felt raw power pressed against her neck. She was paralyzed. She knew what was happening, but she felt strangely far away from the reality of the situation. One of the minions was touching her. The minions could summon the portals through their hands. She was going to get sucked in. She was going to lose. Her surroundings were fading at an alarming rate. Her whole body was tingling. After all of this and now it was over. She hung her head.  
  
All at once she was plunged back into reality with a breathtaking force. Her eyes had fallen on the light that shimmered through her fingers. In slow motion, her hand opened and the ring rolled off of her palm and dropped to the floor of the cave. It hit the ground with a disturbingly loud thud. And then, the entire cave was illuminated with an unearthly light. The ring's light seemed a hundred times brighter than it had in her hand.   
  
Suddenly the pressure on her neck was gone. Orchid felt her body jerk, and suddenly the outline of the cave was clearer than ever. The minion had let go of her. Without thinking she had her knife in her hand and was frantically slashing the air around her. Her elbow connected with something solid and she turned and kicked out, colliding with a massive dark shape. She caught herself before she hit the ground and felt something fall on top of her. She stabbed again, this time feeling her knife sink into something soft. The thing on top of her gave a violent spasm and she wriggled out from under it, shakily jumping to her feet.  
  
She felt something slice like fire across her back and gave a cry of startled pain. She spun around and saw her attacker clearly for the first time. This minion was even scarier than the last one she'd seen, due to the fact that it was missing an arm (presumably due to the place she'd stabbed it,) though it didn't seem to notice the loss of its appendage and was still clumsily advancing on her. In its remaining hand it held a long whip. That must have been what had cut her back.  
  
Yet despite it's terrifying appearance, this minion was acting different than the last one had. It was moving slowly, and seemed disoriented. It was apparently losing more strength with every step it took. *The light,* Orchid realized. *The light must be messing it up. Maybe that's why the light is so weird here. These creatures can't handle any other form of it!*  
  
In one fluid motion, Orchid sprang forward, snatched up the ring, and ran for the mouth of the cave. She felt another streak of fire on her calf but kept running, holding the ring high in the air. The world outside the cave burst into view and Orchid closed her eyes in pain. After spending so long in the cave, even with the light from the ring, the ground-lit world around her now seemed unbearably brilliant. She continued to run until she got a stitch in her side- another first- and collapsed behind a towering boulder.  
  
After taking several minutes to catch her breath and gather her scattered thoughts, Orchid glanced around the side of the boulder, scanning the area for more minions. She seemed to have lost her now armless pursuer, but there tons more than it running around. She could see nothing but illuminated fog. She leaned back against the boulder, her mind racing.  
  
Wow, things had changed. She had cast her first spell, just barely escaped from her pursuer in a fashion that reminded her of something from Rambo, and was, for the first time, experiencing the true life of a human. Her power was completely gone now. She could find no trace of it in her mind or body. That spell had probably drained out any that had been left in her rather quickly.  
  
Orchid sighed. Her speed was cut in half. Her reflexes were slow. She could barely see or hear anything. She felt as weak as a kitten and now even wounds made without wood refused to heal. The lashes the minion had managed to inflict upon her still burned, and she knew her blood must be running down her back, staining her shirt. She could see the welt on her leg. Blood dripped into her sock and gave her a queasy feeling. Human blood had certainly never bothered her, but seeing her own running freely was disconcerting. It sure was wretched being a plain old human. She didn't see how the billions of them out there could stand it.  
  
Through her depression at being so helpless, Orchid also felt a small ray of hope. Surely the hour was almost up now. The time that had elapsed seemed like years to her. She couldn't wait to get out of this dratted snake pit. She had never thought much about her small, dingy apartment, but now it seemed like a palace in her mind. She so wished that she was home, burrowed under the covers of her soft bed, sound asleep.  
  
She stared down at the ring and noticed that the light inside of it was fading. Spells didn't last forever, after all. She supposed she could summon the light again, but she wasn't willing to sacrifice even more of her strength when the Game was so close to being over.  
  
Figuring that it wasn't smart to stay in one place for too long, she climbed to her feet and set off in search of another safe place, constantly checking for minions and snake grass and portals. She was a bit stupefied when six minions suddenly appeared in front of her all at once. She stumbled back. That wasn't supposed to happen!  
  
Once again her knife was held stiff in her fist. She held the ring up again, but the light was dimming at an alarming rate. The minions no longer seemed bothered by it. She stepped back again, tempted to turn and run but smart enough to realize that probably wouldn't accomplish much this time. Time was running out, so the minions had upped their power. There was no more time for silly games of hide-and-seek. They had decided to end it quickly with brute force. Without turning around, Orchid knew that the remaining minions had materialized behind her. She was surrounded. The only way out was to fight.  
  
The circle of minions closed tighter around her. Orchid noticed that her armless friend was among them. She could feel the knife sliding in her sweaty hands and she tightened her grip on it. She couldn't just stab them one by one. She needed some sort of strategy.  
  
The minions got closer and closer. They didn't bother trying to grab her. As long as she didn't fight back they only had to touch her to be rid of her.  
  
No decent strategy was coming to Orchid. She felt immensely stupid. It couldn't end like this! She at least had to go out fighting. Thinking that perhaps the armless minion would be more off balance than the rest, she charged into it without warning. Sure enough, the minion wobbled and crashed into the creature next to it. It was like tipping off a stack of dominoes, only a very violent, alive set of dominoes.  
  
Orchid couldn't believe her random plan had worked. She took the opportunity to stab two of the minions in the chest and disintegrate them before the rest of them regained their senses. She was staring happily at the evaporating forms when another minion hit her in the small of her back, knocking her to the ground. The knife flew out of her hand and disappeared into the yellowish mist. Orchid rolled onto her back and just avoided being sliced with some sort of ax. She didn't want to feel the human side of having one's arm chopped off.  
  
She swung one leg out and crashed it into the leg of the minion, tripping it. It dropped the ax and she grabbed it and whacked off its head, then brandished it out in front of her, startled by how heavy it was. Three minions charged at her and she got ready to swing the ax. That was when two pairs of hands grabbed her from behind, easily shook the ax out of her hand, and hit her in the head so hard that she saw stars. She struggled to see through the blinding pain that had exploded in her head. The minions were still holding her and she struggled violently, realizing that her only hope was the time running out within the next few seconds.  
  
She managed to wrestle free from one minion, but the other still grasped her arm painfully. She swung at another approaching minion and felt yet another blaze of fire across her back. She gave a scream of fury and swung out again, only to have her other arm grabbed by one of the horrible creatures. She couldn't break their grip. She could only scream one last time before they threw her to the ground and she tumbled into the portal that had appeared there. 


	13. The Price

CHAPTER 13  
I know some of you predicted this, though there are still many surprises in store! Sorry about the wait. Those unfortunate things known as school and work have been taking up much of my time. Thanks for all your reviews! :-)  
  
  
  
Orchid hit the hard ground with a thud, landing face down and hitting her head once again. Pretty stars danced in front of her eyes and she gaped at them stupidly, too out of it to realize the bad situation she'd fallen into. It wasn't until Julian's face appeared in her line of vision that she was jolted back to reality, and even then she could think of little to do but stare at him.  
  
"Fifty seven minutes and fourteen seconds. Not bad." Light danced in Julian's eyes. Orchid moaned and managed to pull herself into a sitting position.  
  
"This is such a chippy day." She growled, resting her throbbing head in her hands.  
  
"You should be proud of yourself. Most people don't last half as long as you did, and you were new at being *human*."  
  
Orchid fought down the now familiar urge to strangle him. She didn't think she could withstand another mental battle with him. Sarcasm and wit just weren't worth it right now.  
  
"So, this is your world, huh?"   
  
"In a sense."  
  
"It sure is ugly." In fact, Orchid noted, it looked exactly the same as the place she had just been in, minus the rocks, trees and fog. The light from the ground now shone pure and bright. She was almost thankful at the moment for her less-sensitive eyes. To her great relief, the horrible minions were also nowhere to be seen.  
  
"This is my world in one of its baser states. I am not influencing it at the moment. I can make it anything I want it to be, though." As if to prove his point, a chair appeared in thin air and dropped softly to the ground. "You look pretty worn out. Would you like to sit down?"  
  
"Don't patronize me." Orchid mumbled, using the chair to pull herself to her feet. She wished she had some Tylenol. Just the thought that she would actually wish for such a thing made her want to hide her head under a paper bag. Yet she was a mess. Her back and leg were bleeding. She was covered in bruises. She knew there had to be a lump on her head, and her entire body felt stiff and sore. As hard as she tried not to admit it, she really was quite helpless. And that made her afraid.  
  
"As much abuse as I was taking from you earlier, I think I deserve some compensation."  
  
Orchid held back an angry remark, because she knew he was right. She had really put on a show all this time and now here she was, beaten and hardly able to stand up. She hadn't stuck her foot in her mouth, she had kicked herself in the face. But she wouldn't apologize to him if that's what he was looking for. There was no *way*.   
  
"Oh, come now, Orchid. Be a sport."  
  
"You won." Orchid said quietly. There was no way of getting around it. Nothing she could do about it. The ring seemed to be burning her finger and she wanted to yank it off and chuck it off some cliff into the ocean. That idiot ring. She had been so devoted to it and in return it had brought her nothing but misery. Her finger tingled as she slid it off. She held it out to Julian and at long last he took it.  
  
Julian stared at the ring. The last embers of Orchid's light spell were flickering out. No one, not even the most powerful witch or sorcerer in the world, could have cast a spell into that ring without some outside influence. Some assisting power. He sighed. This only proved what he had been thinking since she offered him the ring.   
  
"There. You've made your point. You have your ring. Can I go home now?"  
  
Julian gave her one of those horrible smiles and she almost cringed. Almost. "Who ever said the ring was the only prize? You accepted my game without knowing what the stakes were, and you can't back out, Orchid. Not out of *my* game."  
  
Orchid felt her stomach drop and once again kicked herself for being such a fool. She had let her pride run over her intuition and common sense. He could ask for anything, and their bargain was probably sealed with some magical power. Something to make sure she kept her agreement. She clenched her fist and stared him in the eye. "What do you want?"   
  
Julian grinned. "Can't you read my mind?"  
  
Orchid realized that she very well could have done that all along. It might have helped her in some things. But after their last connection....his mind was a cave she didn't want to go into. He was staring at her intently. He wasn't going to tell her, and she figured that he was enjoying making her find out for herself. Then another thought hit her. Could she even read minds anymore? Had she lost all her mental powers as well? Carefully she reached out with her mind, searching for Julian's.  
  
The power was still there, but weak. Slowly she could feel their thoughts merge, and she dutifully scanned his mind for whatever the obscene prize that he intended to claim was. She found it almost instantly and she quickly broke out of his mind, her eyes a bright crimson.  
  
"Are you insane?" She growled, awed at his nerve. "You can jump off a cliff!" Not that. Anything but *that*. She would *not*.  
  
"We made a deal, Orchid. I know you realize that a bargain with a Shadow Man cannot be recalled."  
  
"You're disgusting."  
  
"It doesn't matter if you like the circumstances. It's a matter of fact." Orchid noticed that Julian was suddenly very close to her. She stepped back, or at least tried to. Her body seemed frozen. He took her by the shoulders. "I could just force you, but I'd rather not."  
  
*Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could you be so stupid!* A single angry tear fell from her eye and rolled down her jaw. Orchid felt a wave of heat flush through her cheeks. And then- her whole body felt warm. She gasped as her strength returned. The light around her became nearly blinding. She could hear Julian's heartbeat and the deafening silence around it. She could feel his emotions- not just read his thoughts but taste and smell and feel them. The energy he gave off made her arm hairs stand on end.  
  
She glanced down at her wrists and saw that the shackles had vanished. Besides still being a bit sore, she felt a hundred percent better. She was her old self again and more so. She stared at Julian in confusion.  
  
"Is that better?" His voice was different, as though he was trying to keep the coldness in it but wasn't succeeding.   
  
"What's wrong with you?" she whispered, feeling dizzy from her suddenly expounded senses.   
  
"You have your power back. Now will you let yourself see the truth?"  
  
Orchid didn't want to see the truth. She wanted to be away from here! She began to struggle, trying to pry him away from her. Julian only tightened his grip on her shoulders and pulled her in closer.   
  
"Don't fight me, Orchid!" His voice was harsh again, but it cracked just enough for Orchid to get a final burst of his thoughts. He was practically screaming out his deepest emotions, and suddenly she realized that she didn't want to fight him. She didn't need to. All of her defenses seemed to melt away, whether she wanted them to or not. She stopped struggling and stared into his dazzling blue eyes.  
  
She could distantly feel Julian release his grip on her shoulders and wrap his arms around her waist. In a sudden burst of determination, she clumsily put her arms around his neck and kissed him. 


	14. Revelations

As Orchid had figured it would be, kissing Julian was quite a heightening experience. He was quite good at it- just rough enough to make her neck hairs stand up. It was exhilarating. The kiss was long and slow and by the time they got done Orchid was quite breathless.  
  
"Okay, what was that all about?" Orchid couldn't deny that she'd enjoyed the moment, but she really had no clue what Julian was getting at.  
  
Julian had a childish look on his face, something which didn't suit him well. "I don't know. It just felt right, didn't it?"  
  
"I don't know….I thought we kind of hated each other."  
  
"I did hate you at first, but over time I've realized, it wasn't you who was drawn to the ring, I think the ring was drawn to you. It wasn't a mistake that you found it. You can cast a spell of light in the ring, that means you not only have certain powers many lack, but you have a unique light in your soul, like Jenny had."  
  
"Hrmmm, I always thought of myself as a creature of darkness."  
  
"You have to face the facts, Orchid. Despite your tough image you're a good person at heart."  
  
"Uh huh. And you realized all this after you watched me get tortured by your freaky little friends in that wretched….that *place*?"  
  
"Basically."  
  
Orchid ran a hand through her choppy hair and sighed. This was starting to get messy, and she liked things clean and simple. As far as she could tell they had both lost their soul mates, so how on earth could they ever be happy with each other?  
  
"You're not Jenny. Nothing can replace her. But second best isn't always a bad thing."  
  
"Julian, I just don't know if things would work out with you and me. I mean, I'm a vampire. I've got a very demanding sort of life, and you….you, well, you're just kind of freaky with your weird powers and your games and stuff."  
  
"Don't try to pretend you don't feel something. I can read minds too, you know."  
  
"I just think we should think this thing out. There'll be complications if we get together. Mainly the elders will try to have you killed for knowing about our world. I'm not used to having someone around all the time, either. I like to just do my own thing, you know?"  
  
"Come on, Orchid, whoever these elders are you know I can take them."  
  
Orchid hissed in frustration. "Julian, this is stupid! We shouldn't even be having this conversation! I won't work! Just get me out of here and leave me alone!"  
  
Julian stared at her, his piercing blue eyes hiding his emotions. "Is that really what you want?"  
  
Orchid stared at him. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. "Yes." she said flatly. "Yes, that's what I want."  
  
Julian sighed. "Fine."  
  
Orchid didn't have time to reply before the world around her dissolved. She blinked and gasped, unable to figure out what had just happened. She was standing in her room in her apartment, all by herself. Slowly she began to recover her senses. It was finally over. Julian had really sent her home. No more games. No more blonde-haired, blue-eyed weirdos invading her life. She walked into her bedroom. The unmade queen-sized bed had never looked so wonderful. She felt like leaping and screaming for joy. Things were finally back to normal again! Yet, though she wouldn't admit it to herself, part of her had never felt so alone. 


	15. You saw it coming

Orchid was sitting in the shadowed corner of a dark room, out of sight to the crowd that was gathered in its midst. A bunch of official-looking lamia were conversating with each other. Then, suddenly, a hush swept over the room. Everyone crowded out of the way of the doors, which swung open, revealing several sinister, cloaked figures. The figures- the imperious elders, entered the room slowly, with great ceremony.  
  
*Whose head do they want to lop off this time?* Orchid thought to herself grimly. Then her skin went from a little to warm to icy cold. Behind the elders, two large werewolf guards dragged in a struggling boy whose face was spattered with blood. It was Julian.  
  
The guards forced him to his knees in front of the elders. Whispers circulated among the bystanders. Beneath his hood, the face of the Head Elder was tight and grim.  
  
"This is the child she told?"  
  
"Yes, my lord."  
  
"You can't do anything to me!" Julian's bloodied face was livid.  
  
"Execute him."  
  
Orchid was on her feet before she could stop herself. "Hey, you can't do that to him! Don't you know who he is?"  
  
The elder look up into Orchid's eyes. "Yes, and this is the one who told him. See that she is punished accordingly."  
  
"No! JULIAN!"  
  
Orchid sat up in bed, gasping for breath. "Holy snap," she gasped, before falling back down into her pillows. *Why* was she dreaming about Julian? She'd already had this discussion in her head. It was best to forget him altogether and go on like nothing had happened. And here she was getting her blood pressure in a knot for him.  
  
*This just proves it won't work.* she grumbled to herself. *It would be entirely too dangerous.*  
  
But she couldn't get his face out of her mind. His piercing blue eyes, his shining white hair. The way his lips had felt on hers. She couldn't help but think that maybe Julian *could* take on the whole council of elders without breaking a sweat.  
  
*You miss him.*  
  
"I do not!"  
  
*You need him.*  
  
"I d….I don't…."  
  
"Having thoughts of mwah?"  
  
Orchid screamed and nearly jumped straight into the ceiling. "HOLY SNAP! What do you think you're doing, materializing in people's bedrooms in the middle of the night?!?!"  
  
"You were thinking about me."  
  
"Yeah…..so?!? Do I pop up in your bedroom every time you think of me?"  
  
"How do you know I think of you?"  
  
Orchid made a disgruntled noise. "Well, you're *here*, aren't you?"  
  
"Have you changed your mind yet?"  
  
Orchid sneered. "You're really desperate, aren't you? You're fawning over me like some school boy!"  
  
"You'll watch your conceited mouth if you want to live." Julian's tone was so menacing that Orchid decided it best to put an end to the battle of wits.  
  
"Anyway, Julian, I just don't think it will work out….the night world…."  
  
"Come to the shadow world with me, Orchid."  
  
"Oh, you mean that black place with the fog? No thank you."  
  
"It doesn't have to be like that. I can make it be anything I want it to be."  
  
Orchid turned it over in her mind. "It's tempting. I've often wanted to get out of this place….but I just can't. I'm not ready to spend the rest of my life in a completely different world. Why don't you just stay here?"  
  
"I can't. I can visit in this world for short periods of time, but I always have to go back to the shadow world. I'll die if I stay here for too long."  
  
"Well, how do you know I won't die if I go with you? I mean, who would I feed on?" *And I'm really hungry,* Orchid thought to herself.  
  
Julian looked frustrated. "Maybe you're not worth it." he grumbled.  
  
"If you're going to be like that, get out of my bedroom!"  
  
Julian stared into her eyes, his bright blue irises burning into hers. Then, in a flash, he had grabbed her wrists and shoved her onto her back. She growled and tried to pry him off of her but he was too strong. He leaned his face close to hers.  
  
"You don't tell me what to do." he whispered, and Orchid suddenly found herself overcome by some feeling she'd never experienced before.  
  
"Julian…."  
  
Julian let go of her wrists and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of her. She pressed her lips hard against his. The next moment his arms were around her and they were kissing violently. Orchid felt his tongue slide into her mouth and gave a muffled moan. She'd never *done* this before….  
  
Julian pulled out of the kiss and stared down at her. She was so beautiful….He ran his fingers across her pale cheek and she stared up at him dreamily. *You shouldn't be doing this,* a voice in the back of his head growled. *Remember Jenny!* But Jenny was dead and gone and Orchid was real, warm and breathing rapidly beneath him.  
  
"Do you surrender?" He asked cooly, cupping her cheek in his hand.  
  
"Not yet."  
  
Julian clicked his tongue. "I'll break you soon enough."  
  
"I'm scared!"  
  
"Really…." Julian kissed her again, gently at first but it quickly turned into something almost savage. He grasped her shoulders roughly and kissed her so hard she whimpered softly. He could feel her muscles un-tensing. She was going limp in his arms. He couldn't stop….Jenny had never given in like this, even through all the times they had shared such wonderful kisses. He could feel Orchid's inhibitions sliding away. She was going to give into him.  
  
"I've never kissed anyone before." Orchid said softly after they finally pulled away. "Not even Joel."  
  
Julian didn't think it wise to mention the people he had kissed so he changed the subject.  
  
"What's that feeling inside of you, like it's pulling at something?"  
  
"Oh, that's my hunger. I'm gonna have to hunt somebody down first thing in the morning."  
  
"I almost forgot you drink blood."  
  
"Hey, we all gotta eat."  
  
Julian's hand crept behind Orchid's neck and stroked the fuzz at the nape of her neck. "What if you didn't have to wait until morning?"  
  
Orchid stared at him. Did he mean what she thought he meant?  
  
"Remember last time? It hurt me to take from you."  
  
"I'll hold my power back. Last time I wasn't expecting it so you got a full dose, but this time I'll control it."  
  
"You sure you wanna do this?"  
  
"This whole vampire thing intrigues me. I say go for it."  
  
"Well….alright. Just try to relax. The calmer you are, the less it hurts….Let me just…." Orchid scooted closer to Julian so that their noses were almost touching. Slowly she put her lips over his neck. She kissed his neck several times until she found the right spot. *Here we go,* she thought. She could feel his pulse beating steadily under her lips. Her pupils dilated and turned red. She was very hungry….  
  
Julian didn't even flinch as her fangs sank deep into his neck. His blood flowed into Orchid's mouth and she was absorbed by the ecstasy of feeding. His blood was sweeter than the average human's, and she could taste the power running through it, though it didn't overwhelm her like last time. She could feel Julian's mind coming closer and closer until it collided with her own. 


	16. Response

Full Text (5746 words) | | |copyright (c) 2003 The Conde Nast Publications, Inc. All Rights | |Reserved.) | | | |On August 18, 1936--or perhaps it was August 19th, no one is quite | |sure--Federico Garcia Lorca was taken from the cell where he was | |being held, in Granada, and driven into the hills north-east | |of the city. He may have spent the night, or just a few | |hours--again, there are conflicting accounts--at a children's | |summer camp called La Colonia, which, in the early days of the | |Spanish Civil War, had been converted into a way station for the | |condemned; or, alternatively, it is possible that he was held in a | |parked car. In the hours before his execution, Lorca either smoked | |and talked despairingly with his cellmates or sat silently between | |the armed men who were guarding him, and when he realized that he | |was being taken on a paseo, or "walk of death," it has been said | |that he asked for a priest. (According to this account, he was told| |that none was available.) He may have been tortured: one of his | |killers reportedly boasted afterward about having "fired two | |bullets into his ass for being a queer." However, like so many | |other rumors about Lorca's final moments, this one has never been | |substantiated. | |At the time of his slaying, Lorca was thirty-eight. With the | |publication of "Gypsy Ballads," composed while he was still in his | |twenties, he had become, almost instantly, Spain's most famous | |poet, and the phenomenal success of his Andalusian tragedies "Blood| |Wedding" and "Yerma" had made him the country's most celebrated | |dramatist as well. From early childhood, Lorca had been obsessed | |with his own death, including the details of his interment. | |Salvador Dali, a close friend and, probably, love interest, | |recalled how Lorca, as a student in Madrid, used to act out his | |burial, describing the position of the corpse, the closing of the | |coffin, and the bumpy passage of the funeral procession over the | |cobbled streets. "In this game, the process of putrefaction lasted | |five days," the painter remembered. "Poet in New York," which Lorca| |wrote during a yearlong stay in the United States and Cuba, in | |1929-30, contains at least a half dozen first-person allusions to | |an assassination, including this one, from "Fable of Three Friends | |to Be Sung in Rounds": | |When the pure shapes sankunder the chirping of daisies,I knew they | |had murdered me. | 


End file.
